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Learning Strategies and Communities of Practice

The world of Instructional Design has many varied pieces. As I study the subject, I have to say that I learn more and more. Through the Online Learning Consortium, I have become a better Instructional Designer. Reached has proven the value of learning strategies and communities of practices. I read and reread different resources. I found that deep learning is most effective, but there are cases where surface learning is just as effective. What helped my understanding the most was an article titled,  Deep and Surface Learning: The Literature , and another article titled,  Unlocking the Mystery of Critical Thinking , by Linda B Nilson, Ph.D. (December 1, 2014). These articles demonstrated, to me, how deep learning is associated with Cognitivism and Connectivism and surface learning with Behaviorism. Further study into deep learning showed that they are critically intertwined. I also have been researching: I D Skills/Competency : Specifically analyze the characteristics of existi...
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Accessibility, The Right Thing To Do

Since a recent change in my employment status, I have had a chance to reflect more about the need for accessibility. The realization hit me about how much there is to understand. The sheer number of regulations, guidelines and technologies is mind-boggling. It is a considerable challenge. My reflections have given me a new interest in Digital Accessibility. Being instructional designers, we strive to do everything we can to create accessibility in courses and professional development. Creating screen-reader accessible course materials, video captions, courses, and web design reduce barriers for students with ADD, Dyslexia, Autism, Anxiety, Color Blindness, Low Vision, and more. There are many good resources online that can help with understanding the need for accessible content.  Usability.gov has an article on Accessibility Basics. The article offers what and why for usability. When educators implement accessibility best practices, they improve usability for all users.  There...
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Instructional Designers are Human Too

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" burn-out" by sophaya Work Anywhere is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Since the pandemic, the importance of instructional design has increased rapidly. You can browse any job search site (e.g., Indeed, LinkedIn) or career website on companies and universities. The need for good designers has grown exponentially, and so has the amount of stress. We are teachers, coaches, experts, and more. You can include counselors in the list as well. At the height of the pandemic, we helped our faculty go entirely online in less than two weeks. I found myself encouraging my faculty to hold on and that as Instructional Designers, we were there to help them anytime they needed us! There were occasions when I was consoling crying faculty. Instructional Designers still face the level of stress we did before, perhaps more. Burnout comes easily under these circumstances. Battling Burnout The pandemic burnout battle is affecting designers too. Those I have spoken to are tired, overwhelmed, frustrated...
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Break the Silence: Effective Feedback Using D2L Brightspace

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  Providing detailed feedback is  an   absolute must for  effective  online  teaching.   Feedback is  a  tool  for  instructors  to communicate course content, guide , and lead students toward  a growth mindset.   One of the biggest influence s  on  students'   work is good feedback.   Without good feedback,   students  cannot improve their work and can impede future learning.   Feedback  for learning in higher education   highlight s  many studies demonstrating  technology’s ability to boost student engagement with feedback . What  D2L  tools   can f aculty use  for  giving and personalizing feedback ?   Rubrics   D2L Rubrics can be created to evaluate  activities   in  Assignments ,  Discussions,  and the Grade tools   with a  predefined set of criteria.   You can add additiona...
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Value of a Community of Practice

  Researching Communities of Practice (CoP) I have found them of great value. I joined a few CoPs such as the Instructional Design Central, ID2ID (part of my Peer Mentor program), Brightspace Community, and Higher Education Teaching and Learning (part of LinkedIn). Doing so has provided me with new ideas, advice from peers, and numerous resources. Larger CoPs would be hard to follow. Smaller groups are more effective and give you a better feel of a community. Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) faculty have an excellent opportunity to be part of a CoP. The CoP we have is the  IUP Reflective Practice Project . Reflective Practice (RP) is a project sponsored by IUP’s Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) to support faculty and encourage reflective and effective teaching. The reflective practice offers both monthly large group , Saturday workshops, and teaching circles . I would recommend joining CoPs, such as those we have here at IUP, or others faculty may find that ar...
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Engaging and Supporting Students when Using Social Media

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   Creating a engaging/support plan is very challenging. I have included a sample Social Media Support Plan . I have come to understand just how important it is to work with an Instructional Designer. The treasure of information they can share/offer for assistance is staggering.  Not only helping to make sure that the goals and objects are aligned but also knowing sharing information on the wealth of university recourse available. They are also well versed in most if not all of the university faculty services offered by their university. I am finding more and more just how important is to know the difference between social media and programs that augment assignments. The article,  “ 50 Education Technology Tools Every Teacher Should Know About “ (GDC Team, 2015) has been extremely helpful. I am also learning how to use these programs not only from the “How to” perspective but also to foster learning and engage students. I thought I understood lar...
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Challenges of Designing Learning Using Social Media

 Designing learning incorporating social media is extremely challenging.  You really have to understand the separation of social media tools from tools that just enhance learning. I pursued this challenge to see what all it encompassed.  I have included my  Learning Design Plan  in detail. First I determined what course to use it with, audience, course description, and type: Course Name : How to Construct a Basic D2L Course Course Description : The How to Construct a Basic D2L Course is designed to provide participants with an overview to the tools facilitators may use to build a D2L online course. In this introductory course, we will focus on understanding how the D2L tools work as well as some basic pedagogical use of an educational and social media tool. Audience : Full/Temp Faculty, Staff, Ph.D. and Graduate Students Course Type : Facilitator Lead Online Course Researching I choose a combination of university-related social media tools and one non-universit...
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